Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells in Research
PBMCs are critical components of the immune system since they can elicit a response to intruders entering the human body and existing cells that have undergone a transformation into a cancerous cell type. Therefore, researchers and clinicians use PBMCs in areas relating to immunology, infectious disease, hematological malignancies, vaccine development, transplant therapy, personalized medicine, and toxicology. Predominately, in vitro PBMC studies provide the most information regarding cell function6, biomarker identification7, and disease modeling8, just to name a few. But the research also expands into in vivo analysis through the use of humanized mice. Reconstitution of immunocompromised mice with human PBMCs allows the study of the human immune system and its response to pathogens, toxins, or cancer in an in vivo model.9
But studies using PBMCs are advancing into more precise human medicine. The generation of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from single donors PBMC fraction has great implications in personalized medicine regarding disease modeling, drug toxicity screening, drug discovery, and cell replacement therapy.10 And of recent, the use of genome editing technology, such as CRISPR/Cas9, can transform immune cells (T cells from PBMCs) into off-the-shelf CAR-T cells making it possible to treat human cancers without a donor match.11
Conclusion
PBMCs are an important element and a powerful tool for research and clinical studies relating to human health and disease. Through efficient and successful processing and analysis of PBMCs, researchers and clinicians can test immune responses, gain a deeper understanding of the immune system, and apply their findings to treatments and cures for human diseases.
Click HERE to learn more about the Factors that Affect PBMC Viability and Recovery.
Need further information regarding PBMCs, please contact the author, Tera Muir, PhD.